Honest person restores Bible Hill woman’s faith in humanity

When Vivian Ettinger reached for her handbag and realized it wasn’t with her she panicked. She knew she’d left it in a shopping cart at the buggy corral at Walmart.

“I phoned my son and I was crying so hard he asked if I’d had an accident,” she said. “My blank cheques, ID, cards and cash were all in that bag and I’d left it in the cart in the pouring rain.”

The 84-year-old Bible Hill woman had gone out on a wet and windy day to buy a birthday gift for her son. She put the items she’d purchased in the car, pushed the buggy to the corral and hurried back to her car, holding her hood in place and trying to see through wet glasses.

Hoping someone honest had picked up her bag, she called the store and was told there had been one dropped off.

“When I got there and they brought it out I was so relieved,” she said. “Everything was exactly as I left it. Whoever found it was so honest and helpful; it made my day. It really meant a lot to me to have it back and for someone to be so honest, it restored my faith in humanity.”

Ettinger doesn’t know whether it was a staff member or another shopper who found it but she’s very grateful. She knows she was lucky and plans to wear a handbag across her body from now on.